iPad Surpasses Traditional PCs In School-Related Sales

Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple product launch event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 7, 2012 in San Francisco, California. In the first product release following the death of Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. introduced the third version of the iPad and an updated Apple TV. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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MIAMI (CNET) — As back to school kicks off in the U.S., new data claims that Apple’s iPad is outpacing traditional PCs in sales to students and schools for the first time ever.

Charlie Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Company, wrote to investors today that the iPad is now “cannibalizing” PCs in sales to the K-12 market, according to Apple Insider.

“Clearly, a significant portion of iPad sales represented an expansion of the market,” Wolf wrote, according to Apple Insider. “But in view of the fact that Mac sales held steady at around 520,000 units but overall PC sales declined by 265,000 units from 1.90 million to 1.64 million units, we believe the inescapable conclusion is that the iPad is beginning to cannibalize a material portion of PC sales in this market.”

This has been a high sales year for iPad. Apple reportedly shipped a record-breaking 20 million devices last quarter and during the first quarter of the year, iPad sales hit 11.8 million.

The tablet is not just outpacing competitor PCs in the education market — it’s also selling more than Mac PCs, according to Apple Insider. This quarter, double the number of iPads have been sold over Macs to students and schools.

And it doesn’t stop there, Wolf speculated. He believes this trend will move into the home use market also.

“In our view, the education market is the canary in the coal mine,” Wolf wrote. “The next market the iPad is likely to impact is the much larger U.S. home market.”